Is the World’s Newest Ocean Forming in Africa?

Hello gentle blog reader:

Scientists say a giant crack in Ethiopia, one that’s 20 ft wide in places and 35-miles long, may be the start of something big–so big, it could be a new ocean:

A 35-mile rift in the desert of Ethiopia will likely become a new ocean eventually, researchers now confirm.

 

The crack, 20 feet wide in spots, opened in 2005 and some geologists believed then that it would spawn a new ocean. But that view was controversial, and the rift had not been well studied.

 

A new study involving an international team of scientists and reported in the journal Geophysical Research Letters finds the processes creating the rift are nearly identical to what goes on at the bottom of oceans, further indication a sea is in the region’s future.

 

The same rift activity is slowly parting the Red Sea, too.

 

Using newly gathered seismic data from 2005, researchers reconstructed the event to show the rift tore open along its entire 35-mile length in just days. Dabbahu, a volcano at the northern end of the rift, erupted first, then magma pushed up through the middle of the rift area and began “unzipping” the rift in both directions, the researchers explained in a statement today.

 

“We know that seafloor ridges are created by a similar intrusion of magma into a rift, but we never knew that a huge length of the ridge could break open at once like this,” said Cindy Ebinger, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester and co-author of the study.

 

The result shows that highly active volcanic boundaries along the edges of tectonic ocean plates may suddenly break apart in large sections, instead of in bits, as the leading theory held. And such sudden large-scale events on land pose a much more serious hazard to populations living near the rift than would several smaller events, Ebinger said.

 

“The whole point of this study is to learn whether what is happening in Ethiopia is like what is happening at the bottom of the ocean where it’s almost impossible for us to go,” says Ebinger. “We knew that if we could establish that, then Ethiopia would essentially be a unique and superb ocean-ridge laboratory for us. Because of the unprecedented cross-border collaboration behind this research, we now know that the answer is yes, it is analogous.”

 

The African and Arabian plates meet in the remote Afar desert of Northern Ethiopia and have been spreading apart in a rifting process – at a speed of less than 1 inch per year – for the past 30 million years. This rifting formed the 186-mile Afar depression and the Red Sea. The thinking is that the Red Sea will eventually pour into the new sea in a million years or so. The new ocean would connect to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, an arm of the Arabian Sea between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in eastern Africa.

Here’s more on the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/giantcrackinafricawillcreateanewocean

FAA revokes licenses of pilots who missed the airport–pilots were using their PCs!

Dear blog reader:
Remember those NWA pilots who missed the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles and 1 hour? The FAA has suspended their licenses because the pilots admit they were too busy using their PCs instead of concentrating on flying the plane!

One imagines the pilots writing emails or playing Spider Solitaire when they should have been paying attention to flying the plane–how ridiculous!

Here’s more on the story:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/10/27/2009-10-27_faa_revokes_licenses_of_wayward_northwest_airlines_pilots.html

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday revoked the licenses of the two Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles.

The pilots – Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain, and Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer – told safety investigators they were working
on their personal laptop computers and lost track of time and place.

The pilots, who were out of communications with air traffic controllers for 91 minutes, violated numerous federal safety regulations in the incident last Wednesday night, the FAA said in a statement. The violations included failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly, the agency said.
“You engaged in conduct that put your passengers and your crew in serious jeopardy,” FAA regional counsel Eddie Thomas said in a letter to Cheney.

Northwest Flight 188 was not in communications with controllers or the airline dispatchers “while you were on a frolic of your own. … This is a total dereliction and disregard for your duties.”
A similar letter was sent to Cole.

The pilots said they were brought back to awareness when a flight attendant contacted them on the aircraft’s intercom. By then, they were over Wisconsin at 37,000 feet. They turned the Airbus A320 with its 144 passengers around and landed safely in Minneapolis.

The revocations of the pilots’ commercial licenses are effective immediately, the FAA said. The pilots have 10 days to appeal the emergency revocations to the National Transportation Safety Board. If that fails, they can apply for a new certificate after one year.

The pilots’ union at Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last year, had cautioned against a rush to judgment. The pilots told investigators who
interviewed them on Sunday that they had no previous accidents or safety incidents.

Delta spokesman Anthony Black said in a statement: “The pilots in command of Northwest Flight 188 remain suspended until the conclusion of the investigations into this incident.”

….

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/10/27/2009-10-27_faa_revokes_licenses_of_wayward_northwest_airlines_pilots.html

And, here’s more on the original story: http://bobbiblogger.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/faa-suspends-licenses-of-pilots-who-missed-the-airport-pilots-were-using-their-pcs/

 

Bye, Bye, Big Mac–McDonald’s Exits Iceland

Hello, gentle blog reader,

McDonald’s only franchise in Iceland will close this weekend because the country’s currency woes and tariffs make operating the fast food restaurants unprofitable.

I think most Icelanders will say “Bless” (good-bye) and feel “blessed” to be McDonald’s-free!

Here’s more on the story:

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — The Big Mac, long a symbol of globalization, has become the latest victim of this tiny island nation’s overexposure to the world financial crisis

Iceland’s three McDonald’s restaurants — all in the capital Reykjavik — will close next weekend, as the franchise owner gives in to falling profits caused by the collapse in the Icelandic krona.

“The economic situation has just made it too expensive for us,” Magnus Ogmundsson, the managing director of Lyst Hr., McDonald’s franchise holder in Iceland, told The Associated Press by telephone on Monday.

Lyst was bound by McDonald’s requirement that it import all the goods required for its restaurants — from packaging to meat and cheeses — from Germany.

Costs had doubled over the past year because of the fall in the krona currency and high import tariffs on imported goods, Ogmundsson said, making it impossible for the company to raise prices further and remain competitive with competitors that use locally sourced produce.

A Big Mac in Reykjavik already retails for 650 krona ($5.29). But the 20 percent increase needed to make a decent profit would have pushed that to 780 krona ($6.36), he said.

That would have made the Icelandic version of the burger the most expensive in the world, a title currently held jointly by Switzerland and Norway where it costs $5.75, according to The Economist magazine’s 2009 Big Mac index.

The decision to shutter the Icelandic franchise was taken in agreement with McDonald’s Inc., Ogmundsson said, after a review of several months.

“The unique operational complexity of doing business in Iceland combined with the very challenging economic climate in the country makes it financially prohibitive to continue the business,” Theresa Riley, a spokeswoman at McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, said in a statement. “This complex set of challenges means we have no plans to seek a new partner in Iceland.”

McDonald’s, the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, arrived in Reykjavik in 1993 when the country was on an upward trajectory of wealth and expansion.

The first person to take a bite out of a Big Mac on the island was then-Prime Minister David Oddsson. Oddsson went on to become governor of the country’s central bank, Sedlabanki, a position that he was forced out of by lawmakers earlier this year after a public outcry about his inability to prevent Iceland’s financial crisis.

Lyst plans to reopen the stores under a new brand name, Metro, using locally sourced materials and produce and retaining the franchise’s current 90-strong staff.

Ogmundsson said it was unlikely that Lyst would ever seek to regain the McDonald’s franchise with Iceland still struggling to get back on its feet after the credit crisis crippled its overweight banking system, damaging the rest of its economy, last October.

“I don’t think anything will happen that will change the situation in any significant way in the next few years,” Ogmundsson said.

It is not the first time that McDonald’s, which currently operates in more than 119 countries on six continents, has exited a country. Its one and only restaurant in Barbados closed after just six months in 1996 because of slow sales. In 2002, the company pulled out of seven countries, including Bolivia, that had poor profit margins as part of an international cost-cutting exercise.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Iceland-says-goodbye-to-the-apf-2609404079.html?x=0&.v=6

***Be sure to check out these jokes about the economy:
The Economy is so bad … ;–) (humor)

P.S. For more on Iceland’s economic crisis, see these articles:

Bye, Bye, Big Mac–McDonald’s Exits Iceland

http://bobbiblogger.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/iceland-bankrupt-what-will-the-domino-effect-be/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122718166821744225.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

I Already Owe $38,375 and I Only Own a Dollhouse

Arguing Pilots Miss the Airport by 150 Miles and 1 hr!

Update:  Pilots were using their laptops while in the cockpit rather than focusing on flying the plane:

http://bobbiblogger.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/faa-suspends-licenses-of-pilots-who-missed-the-airport-pilots-were-using-their-pcs/

Good morning, gentle blogger,
Yes, in this morning’s news, the TRUE story of pilots so busy arguing that they missed the airport by 150 miles and 1 hr! Hard to believe that pilots get paid so much $$$:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/23/northwest-pilots-argument-miss-runway

Better than a Spoon full of Sugar: Will Julie Andrews Be Able To Sing Again via a Magic Gel????!!!!!

Hello gentle blog reader,

The Sound of Music is my FAVOURITE musical and Julie Andrews is my favourite musical star.

Julie Andrews fans were devastated when her vocal cords were injured in a botched nodule-removal operation a dozen years ago. But now it looks like her 4-octave voice might be healed via a “magic gel” that could restore her vocal cords’ elasticity!!!

Here’s more on this promising scientific miracle: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1222323/Magic-gel-help-Julie-Andrews-sing-again.html

And, for those of you who would like to hear Julie Andrews’ beautiful voice in the Sound of Music, here is a wonderful medley of hits from the musical:

Julie Andrews sings

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Bobbi

Diana Trilling on Fate

 

“There’s much to be said for challenging fate instead of ducking behind it.” – Diana Trilling

Don’t ask what the world needs…

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~ Howard Thurman

Invitation

Hello, gentle blog reader,

I came across this wonderful quote and thought you might like it too:

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome
the ecstatic experience.  ~Emily Dickinson

The Economy is so bad … ;–) (humor)

The economy is so bad that the highest-paying job in town is jury duty.

The economy is so bad that I saw a van full of legal immigrants illegally crossing the border to Mexico.

The economy is so bad that parents in Bevery Hills are considering raising their own children.

The economy is so bad that I saw someone using the sun to get a tan!

The economy is so bad, I saw four CEOs playing miniature golf.

The economy is so bad, Hot Wheels stock is trading higher than GM.

The economy is so bad, mothers in Ethiopia are telling their children, “Finish your meal! Don’t you know there are starving children in the US?”

The economy is so bad, Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America.

The economy is so bad, the Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas is now managed by Somali pirates.

The economy is so bad, a certain celebutante changed her name to “Paris Holiday Inn.”

The economy is so bad that 7 of 10 houses on Sesame Street are in foreclosure.

The economy so bad, they renamed Wall Street “Wal-Mart Street.”

The economy is so bad, Angelina had to adopt a highway.